Darkened tooth

[Benny I]

Hi

My top front middle tooth has become dark over the last year after I had an accident about two years ago. At the time I was warned that the tooth might discolour in future and sure enough now the tooth has become darkened.

I have tried teeth whitening but unfortunately the results were not that good and I would like this tooth whitened much more as right now the tooth looks even darker than before I did teeth whitening.

My own dentist says that tooth needs to be root filled and then capped but I don't wish to have my tooth shaved down so much for a crown, so I was wondering if a composite or porcelain veneer would work on this tooth to make it whiter than it is right now.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

With a root filled its generally better to crown the tooth to prevent tooth fracture. Other options such as internal whitening, composite veneers, porcelain veneers are also possible but they will not protect a root filled tooth from fracture in the same way that a crown could protect the tooth.

Also there may not be enough tooth tissue left after root canal treatment for the veneer to bond to tooth tissue in all its aspects.